Cordless telephone sets comprise a base unit and a remote handunit which communicate with each other over via radio frequency (RF) transmissions. Although these transmissions are of relatively low power, and consequently of limited range, it is nevertheless possible for close neighbors to own cordless telephones which operate on the same frequency, and thus interfere with each other. To alleviate this problem, many cordless telephones include the capability of selecting one of two or more RF channels for communication between the base unit and the remote handunit. Such a cordless telephone set is known from GE cordless telephone model number 2-9675 manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Indianapolis, Ind.
In such cordless telephone sets, a channel selection switch on the base unit and a channel selection switch on the remote handunit, select one of two or more crystal oscillator circuits, or program respective digital frequency synthesizers. Clearly, these channel selection switches must be set to select the same channel in order for the unit to operate. The channel selection switches must be user-accessible so that they may be switched when desired, but on the other hand, are usually placed behind covers and hidden from view because these switches are not frequently operated. The inclusion of a channel selection switch on both the base unit and the handunit is a source of problems in setting up the communications channel of the cordless telephone set, because each of the switches must be located by the user, and set to the same channel selection setting.